Tag: Toronto Blue Jays

Spring Training for the 2015 Major League Baseball season is upon us! So even if you're still sitting under a blanket of snow, you know that relief is on the way.
To help you get warmed up and to take an excuse to look at some great vintage sports ephemera, here's a hand-picked gallery slideshow of some of my favorite Spring Training program and scorecard art from teams like the Dodgers, Red Sox, Angels, and Pirates. All of these and more are available for perusal at The Press Room, and clicking on any image will take you to its own page.

You wanted the best, you got the best! The hottest baseball teams ever... OK, sorry about that. I have Kiss on the brain for some reason. Back to baseball.
Last week I published my first annual list of the ten worst franchises in Major League history, so if you haven't read that yet now's a good time. Either way, it's time to look at the teams that set the standard for all other baseball clubs to follow. Or that are, in the case of a few, still basking in past glories. To see my rankings for other leagues, as well as all mysports lists, check out this page.
Before I get to the list, a few notes of explanation are needed.
Rankings are based on average points per season, not total points.
For the few franchises whose history stretches back to the 19th century (Braves, Cardina

Buck Showalter, Baltimore Orioles -- Buck never made it to the majors, but did play AAA ball briefly. This is a card from his time with the New Haven Yankees (AA), dated either 1978 or 1979.
Bobby Valentine, Boston Red Sox -- No fake mustache needed here. This is Bobby as a member of the California Angels, from a Topps 1975 card. Valentine played for five big league squads during his ten-year career.
Joe Girardi, New York Yankees -- While he won three World Series as a Yankee, Joe Girardi spent most of his career playing backstop for the Cubs.
Joe Maddon, Tampa Bay Rays -- Maddon spent just four seasons in the minors, and never played higher than A ball for affiliates of the Angels and Padres. I couldn't find any photos from that era, but there are some neat images o

With the 2012 Major League Baseball season nearly upon us, now is as good a time as any to obsess once again on one of my favorite topics — logos. So I’m going to offer up my choices for the best and worst team logos for all 30 current MLB franchises. Primary, alternate, and cap logos listed on Chris Creamer’s outstanding logo website are all under consideration. Today I look at the five squads of the American League’s East division.
(Other recaps — AL West, NL West, AL Central, NL Central)
Baltimore Orioles
Best
Despite being a lifelong Yankees fan, I've always been partial to the Orioles. Could it be because orange is in fact my favorite color? Maybe. All I know is that this logo, the team's second, is damn neat. It's fun but not frivolous, cartoonish but not cutesy. This one,

What could possibly be more American than watching playoff baseball in October? Using baseball to hawk merchandise, that's what. Here's a collection featuring the great American pastime. And by that I mean baseball, not advertising. Maybe.
I've seen some strange wallpaper choices in my day, but the "Ghost of Bill Dickey" collection has to be the strangest. And it sure as hell can't be good for your appetite. And are those cantaloupes in that bowl of Grape-Rocks? (Post Grape-Nuts Flakes, 1956)
Apparently Jim Britt is something of a broadcasting legend in the New England area, so I can't really bag on him for pitching cigarettes. It's just a neat old ad, and certainly the type of thing you wouldn't see today even without all the advertising restrictions placed on tobacco